


Somewhere in her smile she knows

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Exes, F/M, Flirting, Games, Getting to Know Each Other, Humor, I like writing Coulson getting flustered, Late Night Conversations, Shipscuses, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 16:31:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2699687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet about Coulson and Skye discussing their exes. Over drinking, of course.  Takes place between 02x07 and 02x08.  Just my meanderings about Coulson mentioning Audrey to Skye to casually in 02x08.</p><p>Title from the Beatles/Harrison song "Something".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somewhere in her smile she knows

"Last kiss," she says.

It being her turn and all.

They've stayed up late working in his office, planning the trip to Hawaii then the bounce to Australia. Some of the details have been left out, but she thinks between the whiskey and the chocolate he was hoarding, she'll get something interesting.

This game was his idea, not hers. The whiskey nightcap, that was hers. Except she'd never use the term 'nightcap' that was all Coulson. And "When was the last time..." is a total profiling tool, she's aware. He's just trying to get a read on where her head's at, and now she's going to have fun with it. If he wanted to keep playing.

"Audrey," he said, his feet propped up against the desk as he swirls the drink in his hand, clinking the ice against the side of the glass.

"How did the two of you meet?"

He looks at her suspiciously.

"I never finished telling you about me and Reyes," he says teasingly.

Trying to switch tracks on her. She just shakes her head at him.

She knows about Audrey. Audrey had come from the same part of Coulson's life as Project: TAHITI. And when he'd shared with her about the kind of place he was in back then, he said Audrey had been there for him.

"Plenty to go on with you and Reyes," she says with a knowing look as he frowns back at her.

"I met Audrey on the job," he sighs, after a little hesitation.

Skye squirms excitedly in her seat across from his desk. His tone has a hint of confession to it.

"Which goes back to my point," she says.

"What point?" he asks, dodging.

"Back at 'When was the last time you dated someone who wasn't SHIELD?' You have _never_ dated someone who wasn't connected to SHIELD in some way."

He's animated suddenly and puts his feet down off the desk, leaning towards her.

"And the last guy you dated? Oh, _that's right_ : Mr. Rising Tide."

She raises and eyebrow and starts to say something but he interrupts.

"Case closed," he takes a sip of his drink, cocky and sits it on the desk. "At least Audrey wasn't the leader of an organization who..."

"We didn't have a _leader_ , Coulson," she breaks in. "We had an autonomous..."

"Okay," he says, raising a finger between them. "Fair enough. _Prominent member_."

"Fine," she concedes, raising her chin a little. "Why are you being so defensive?"

"I'm not," he says defensively.

"Whatever," she says. "Did all this happen before the Battle of New York?"

"No," he says. "Last year. When we went to Portland, you remember... _okay_ ," he adds, looking a little sheepish at her expression. "We should talk about something else."

"While I was getting kidnapped by Ward you were making out with your ex-girlfriend?"

He gives her an intensely frustrated look. "We were protecting her from Marcus Daniels, as you well know. And no, I just kissed her on the forehead."

The idea of that makes her smile. "And that's it?" she said, shrugging. "You guys are done?"

"Well, she wasn't fully conscious."

"This is getting weird," Skye said, thinking it over, taking a big sip of her whiskey and setting the glass down as she narrowed her eyes. "Does Audrey even know you're alive?"

"No," he answered back. Too quickly. Like he knew she was going to ask and it annoyed him.

"Do you want to...tell her?" she asked slowly.

"Gee, Skye, considering I'm a fugitive from justice and legally I don't exist? Probably not a good time for that," he shot back, exasperated.

"You sound so conflicted about it," she added with slow sarcasm.

"I made a choice, because I had to. Which, by the way, how long did you wait to tell Miles you survived the fall of SHIELD again?"

"So, so defensive," Skye teased. "Do you miss her?"

Coulson covered his eyes with his hand, then rubbed at his face tiredly. "When was the last time you played 'When was the last time...' with Phil Coulson? Was it this time?" he said, taking away his hand and staring back at her, then standing up out of his chair he carried his drink towards the couch.

"You don't have to answer," she said, turning to follow him with her eyes and then standing up and going to sit next to him on the couch.

He's silent, holding the drink in his lap and staring up at the ceiling, his head leaned against the back of the couch. He's thinking this one through.

"Sometimes," he finally says.

"But, not as much as you thought," she answers, and he looks over at her, curled up next to him on the couch, one hand on her drink, the other twisting a piece of hair around one of her fingers.

"No, not as much as I thought," he repeats, and for a second, his eyes definitely meet hers and it feels dangerous. "You still think about Miles?" he says, distracting himself by drinking.

"I _worry_ about Miles," she said, finishing the rest of her glass.

"That's kind of how it felt seeing Audrey again," he admits. "I just wanted for her to be safe. From this," he sighed, staring around at the office.  "Maybe from me, even."

That she understands.  Not knowing what you are, what that means.  She's pretty sure that's why he started this conversation to begin with.

"Did you keep a lot of secrets from her?" she asks, already pretty sure of the answer.

"It was mostly secrets," he says, suddenly somber and draining his glass, then sliding it onto the coffee table.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No. It's okay," he said, settling back against the couch, sliding his arm along the back. "My turn," he said, staring at her.

The way he'd said it makes her feel suddenly warm. Or maybe it's the whiskey?

"When's the last time you were in love?"

Feeling the intensity of his gaze, she stares at the floor for a long moment, gathering her thoughts.

"I think I've realized," she said, looking up at him. "My idea of love wasn't big enough before."

He's not sure what to say to that, but it makes him smile.

It's not really an answer, but it's something.


End file.
